THE Budget crisis in Wales remains unresolved, despite Gordon Brown's announcement that an extra £9m will come to the Assembly Government as a result of education spending increases in England.

The £9m forms part of a £165m package over the next four years.

Finance Minister Sue Essex has tabled a Budget motion due to be debated next Wednesday. While she has made a number of concessions to opposition parties, they are insisting more should be spent on education. The opposition have two more AMs than Labour and could vote the Budget down. Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones has, however, made it clear that an opposition coalition will not take over the reins of government whatever happens to the Budget.

Last night it seemed Labour was content for a cooling-off period until early next week, when talks are likely to resume with the opposition leaders.

An Assembly Government spokeswoman said, "We welcome the new £9m funding package for Wales and the extra cash over four years. We will now be taking time to consider how that money might be spent, but are not going to be rushing into decisions."

Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said, "The alternative coalition government, as we saw yesterday, is a chaotic one which changes its position over a matter of hours. If that is the recipe it will have a pretty unpleasant taste.

Mr Hain said he expected "another big boost" in public investment for Wales in July's Comprehensive Spending Review.

Plaid Leader Ieuan Wyn Jones said, "We welcome the fact that the Chancellor has made new money available to the Assembly in his pre-Budget report, and that he has called for further investment in education.

"Plaid hopes the Labour Assembly Government will follow Gordon Brown's lead and ensure schools in Wales benefit from this extra money."

Welsh Conservative Assembly leader Nick Bourne said, "Gordon Brown has given the First Minister some room for manoeuvre to give him a way out of his budget dilemma. As we have argued all along, we want him to spend that extra money on education, to put our schools and universities on a more sound financial footing.

"It is a shame the Labour Assembly Government did not wait 24 hours before laying their budget. Rhodri Morgan must now decide whether he believes in investing in education or is prepared to reap the consequences if he does not.

"We await his response with interest and are more than willing to continue negotiations to secure the best possible settlement for Wales."

Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly leader Mike German said, "On Tuesday, the minority Labour Government in the Assembly published an unacceptable budget, which forced cuts on schools and put teachers' jobs in jeopardy, saying there was no more money to do otherwise. Now the Chancellor is investing money in schools.

"This extra £9m coming to Wales next year gives us room for new talks over the Budget."